latest releases
latest releases
»giza«
About 80 km northwest of Mount Kenya lies a region called Laikipia. Here, something special exists in nature: since the beginning of the 20th century, large black wild cats have been sighted several times in this area covering approximately 8,600 km². In 2019, the “myth of the black panther in Africa” was officially confirmed and documented using “camera traps.” The recessive gene mutation is very rare. Only if both parents carry the gene there is a chance that their offspring will also be black. In Laikipia, this gene does not seem to be extinct – there are black leopards here, or at least there is one animal that has been seen repeatedly for a few years. It has been given the name Giza, which means “darkness” or “shadow” in Swahili.
I was fascinated by the idea of seeing a panther in the wild. You would think it would be easy to find one, because with its appearance it should stand out in the beige, parched wilderness of Kenya. The opposite is true. During the day it is invisible, hiding in the shade of trees and bushes and escaping the sun. Only at sunset or sunrise do the big cats come out of hiding to hunt. Every morning we drove out early and searched for fresh tracks, and did the same thing every late afternoon. We even got lucky and found Giza. We saw her hunting and then disappearing again – my long-awaited portrait seemed impossible. Our tension grew, as did my desire for the perfect picture. On the last evening before our departure after nine days in the field, I was blessed with a glimmer of daylight after a rainy afternoon. Giza emerged from the thicket, for the first time not in a hurry and on the hunt, but completely calm. She walked silently across the still slightly wet ground and came straight towards me. I leaned out of the car, lying on my stomach, the camera on the ground, and she came closer and closer. She focused on me with a look that pierced me to the core. My body froze. My heart was racing as I pressed the shutter button. What I took home with me was not just a whole new and beautiful picture of a panther. I took with me a great love, gratitude, and humility – for this unique encounter and for our beautiful nature.
Edition of 10 . 166 x 126 cm
»now you see me«
If I imagine telling someone about this second image idea beforehand, I would tell myself not to get carried away, but to stay realistic: searching for a black leopard at night sounds literally like looking for a “needle in a haystack”. But that was exactly the idea that had stuck in my head
Dan and Karioke are the best guides and spotters in Laikipia. Every evening, we drove out into the wilderness at dusk and searched for this beautiful animal. They had a bright spotlight fitted with a red filter—this way, you don’t disturb or dazzle the animals too much, but you can still see enough. For me, it was a whole new technical challenge – I had never photographed in the dark before! What seemed impossible was about to work. In fact, we found Giza at night. The spotlight revealed two flashing eyes that looked like sparkling diamonds. Karioke stopped – hundreds of times before, he had simply continued shining the light because he recognized in milliseconds that they were the eyes of an impala, a zebra, a rabbit, or a dik-dik. Not this time. Dan stopped the Land Cruiser. Nothing happened. Our tension was at its peak. Thirty seconds passed without us seeing or hearing anything. Was it another animal after all? Or was it long gone?
Then we saw him. The silent hunter of the night came slowly and silently through the grass, straight towards us. I was lying on my stomach, hanging out of the car, with my camera on the ground. What an encounter: a black panther in the darkness of the night! I couldn’t believe it. It came straight towards me, closer and closer: my heart almost stopped with excitement and happiness when it growled at me and looked directly into my camera, as if to say: “Now you see me” – “but I’ve been watching you for a long time!” An incredible and certainly unique situation in the wilderness!
